Protocols are the game's five difficulty levels; Policies are additional challenges. The full release lists 15 Policies, and the developer says a Policy can be applied at any Protocol difficulty. A higher Protocol and an added Policy are therefore two different choices, according to the official release announcement.
Read the progression requirement literally
The Steam achievement descriptions give two explicit progression goals:
| Named goal | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Protocol IV | Complete Protocol III |
| Protocol V | Complete Protocol IV |
These descriptions establish those named completion requirements. They do not prove a full menu-unlock diagram, every earlier prerequisite or an automatic winning strategy for the next difficulty.
Before starting a harder attempt, separate what you are testing: learning the higher Protocol itself, or adding a Policy's extra challenge. Changing both at once can make it harder to understand which condition affected the run. That is a suggested learning method, not a verified optimal progression route.
Policies are named challenges, not a ranked list
The achievement list includes Protocol V goals paired with Policies such as Bad Sector, Bloatware, Low Memory and Read Only. It confirms those names in completion conditions. The names alone do not prove each Policy's full mechanical effect.
Read the selected Policy's current description before committing. We do not infer effects from a computer-related name, nor rank Policies from easiest to hardest without current testing.
Preparing for boss pressure
The release announcement describes Plus! enemies and bosses with shooting, charging, thrown attacks and temporary invulnerability. The store counts six bosses and mini bosses together. It would be incorrect to turn that combined count into six individually documented final bosses.
Use the description of the encounter you actually face and keep your learning goal clear. No exact dodge timing, invulnerability duration or guaranteed Protocol V build is established here. Earlier Demo forum runs are retained as research leads, not copied into a release walkthrough.
Continue with Tasks to distinguish run-specific and cumulative goals, or return to the Beginner guide to choose the system to learn next. Checked September 30, 2026 against the full-release description and public Steam achievements.